The present disclosure is related to an operation apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a display control method, and a medium for recording a program.
In recent years, an image forming apparatus using xerography provides various image forming modes such as a duplex mode, an image editing mode, and the like. These image forming modes may be used in combination in such an image forming apparatus. Image forming apparatuses have become multifunctional.
As the image forming apparatus becomes multifunctional, a setting procedure of each of the image forming modes becomes complex. Given this, the image forming apparatus employs an operation panel using a display device such as an LCD (liquid crystal display). An operator-guided type operation panel is most widely used as the operation panel, that displays not only keys for setting the modes but also guidance of the setting procedure.
In general, such guidance of the setting procedure is preferably provided in a language of a country in which the apparatus is used. Meanwhile, an image forming apparatus for a multinational company and a multicultural region is provided that is configured such that an operator selects a language or the apparatus determines a language from a plurality of sets of language data installed in advance, and to switch the languages of guidance.
However, in a case in which a technology of selecting an appropriate language based on a type of paper, a source voltage, a satellite signal and the like is employed in the abovementioned image forming apparatus, the display language of the apparatus is fixed to Japanese while the apparatus is installed in Japan even if most of operators are foreign language speakers.
Here, the image forming apparatus is preferably configured such that display languages can be switched by an operator operating a key or the like. The display language is thus not fixed in the image forming apparatus. But, in this case, a language selected by an operator who used the image forming apparatus last may remain.
For example, in an environment in which most of operators use Japanese and only a part of operators use English, if an operator who operated last had selected English display, the image forming apparatus continues displaying messages in English. In this case, the image forming apparatus continues English display, regardless of the situation in which most of operators select Japanese display and use the apparatus in Japanese display. In this case, an operator who uses the image forming apparatus next likely needs to perform a language switching operation.
The same situation may occur in an image forming apparatus allowing programmed execution of a plurality of jobs, since an operator who programs the jobs and an operator who actually performs the jobs do not necessarily use the same language.
In order to solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus is disclosed as Related Art 1, the image forming apparatus including: a storage means that stores display data for displaying a predetermined window on a display device in a plurality of languages; a language switching means that allows switching between the languages of the display data to be displayed on the display device; and a default setting means that allows selection of a default language of the display data to be displayed by default on the display device. The abovementioned image forming apparatus includes an image forming operation programming means that allows programming of another image forming operation while a certain image forming operation is executed by an image forming means; and a display language switching means that displays a display window on the display device for programming of the another image forming operation during execution of the certain image forming operation after switching the language of the display data to the default language. As a result, in the abovementioned image forming apparatus, frequency of using the language switching means can be reduced and operability can be improved, for example by setting the most frequently used language as the default language.
In addition, an image forming apparatus is disclosed as Related Art 2, in which display languages of a display window (operation window) on an operation panel are switched by a plurality of language keys carrying language names. The image forming apparatus is provided with: the plurality of language keys that are activated when being pressed by a user; a pressure detection means that detects pressure on a predetermined language key by the user; and a display language switching means that switches the display language from a preset language to the language of the language key being pressed while the pressure detection means detects pressure on the predetermined language key. The image forming apparatus is thus configured to allow easy switching of the display languages by a single operation (single-step operation) by a user. In addition, the image forming apparatus is configured such that the display language is switched back to the preset language when the pressure on the language key is released. The image forming apparatus is thus configured to reduce complex operation such as setting operation of the display language.
However, in the technique disclosed in Related Art 1, all the display data (message, character string, and the like) displayed on the display window is switched to the display data translated into a predetermined language, upon execution of language switching. Generally, when a user needs language switching of the display data, it is often sufficient to translate only a part of the display data. Given this, a switching process for all the display data is uneconomical.
In addition, in the technique disclosed in Related Art 2, the display language of the entire display window (the display data) is translated into a language corresponding to the language key while the language key is pressed. In the technique disclosed in Related Art 2, the display language is switched back to the preset language when the pressure on the language key is released.
Therefore, in the technique disclosed in Related Art 2, if a user switches the display language to a predetermined language by pressing the language key, checks display contents, and then advances to a next display window, the display language is switched back to the preset language. The user is required to switch the display language again by pressing the language key. In other words, in a case of employing the technique disclosed in Related Art 2, the image forming apparatus requires a user to operate on the language key each time the display window is advanced, for inputting setting conditions for a predetermined setting item key. In the image forming apparatus, a large number of user operations may be required.